


Remember to Come Up for Air

by Anzieizna



Series: Short stories [6]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Maybe - Freeform, but i think that's already a famous pirate so no, i think Johanna does, i think it's calico or something, they don't have surnames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 07:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18912043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anzieizna/pseuds/Anzieizna
Summary: I love mermaids. I'm a pisces, of course I love mermaids. But what I love the most is creating lore about these other worlds and having a character explore that, so that's what I'm practising in this piece.Main characters are Johanna, a pirate to discovers her mermaid (called naiads in this) companion in a ship one time. She rescues her (might upload the origin story but I think I lost it). Second main character is the mermaid - Akleja, or Ak-le-yah, who's a mermaid and loves learning about the human world.





	1. Chapter 1

“I brought helmi,” Akleja announced happily.

Johanna raised a brow. “You brought what?”

The naiad lifted a hand – she’d learnt the week before about human hand signals and was far too excited about her new knowledge – before diving back in the water. She emerged a second later, her hands cupped with something that shone from the sun. At first, Johanna couldn’t see what it was, and so squinted, but then Akleja moved and shadowed the object her in her hands.

Or rather, object _s_. Because cradled in her hold was what looked like hundred upon hundred of tiny, perfectly shaped, glowing pearls.

Johanna choked. “Wait – are those?”

The naiad presented them proudly. “We need no name, but neighbours call it helmi,” she said, shoving them further towards Johanna. “Take.”

“Wha—no, I can’t,” Johanna stuttered. “That’s far too valuable. Keep it.”

She pushed the glittering orbs back, but Akleja just returned them, brows furrowed in confusion. “I give helmi,” she said, “you give gift.”

Johanna blinked. “What?”

The naiad heaved a heavy sigh. “You have,” she groaned. “The smooth, yellow circles. Helmi.”

Johanna thought for a moment, then plucked out a coin from her bra. “This?” she asked, placing it in her palm and showing it to Akleja.

The creature nodded, her hair flying with the movement. “Yes! Our helmi,” she pointed to the pearls, then to the coin. “Your helmi.” She looked up, eyes narrowing as she looked over Johanna. Suddenly, her eyes caught onto one of her fingers and she pointed excitedly. “Trade for pretty thing!”

Johanna looked down, snorting as she spotted the rusting rings. “You want a sea-ridden ring?” she asked dubiously.

But the naiad nodded. “Glows in sun.” She presented the pearls – the “helmi” – again, pushing more insistently this time.

Johanna hesitated for a moment, then picked one pearl. But Akleja took that as permission to drop all the pearls into her hands, and the pirate gasped as she failed to catch a few as they tumbled from her hands. She picked them up, rubbing gently until the sand was gone and she could see her reflection. She brought one to her nose and sniffed – the stench of sea was sown into the object, sweet and calm as waves crashed in the background. Johanna looked up and smiled when she caught Akleja’s eyes, who grinned back at her before flashing her fingers towards the rings.

Johanna chuckled and held her hand out. “Pick one.”

Akleja’s eyes widened, as if it were a great honour, and studied each ring with intense care. By the sixth minute Johanna was more than bored, but Akleja was clearly taking this seriously so she didn’t say anything. Eventually, the naiad picked a ring. The material was far rotten now, brown and itchy from years of water. It didn’t even have a gem on it, instead sterling silver and banded vertically every inch – to any pirate, it would have been the ugliest ring. Hell, to any human it would have been the same.

But Akleja wasn’t human, and she apparently found this ring beautiful. She twirled in her hand then tried to put it on her finger, but the skin – or scales, whatever it was – of her hand was too chunky. Akleja’s face grew more disappointed as she failed to put the jewellery on, until she sighed and lowered her eyes.

Something inside Johanna’s chest seized. Without thinking about it, she found a loose thread around her belt and pulled it to a decent length before ripping it away. Akleja cried out as she tried to take the ring back, and she grinned.

“Relax,” she said. “I’m not stealing it away.”

After a moment Akleja let her, still eyeing the silver worryingly as Johanna lifted it from her grasp. She weaved the thread through the ring, tying it at the top. Then she held it away from her and stared at the make-shift necklace, admitting it did look rather nice in the sun. The thread was thin and would probably break soon, but for now it would hold, so she turned towards Akleja and placed it over her neck.

The naiad blinked for a moment, stunned, before poking the thread. Then she grinned widely, making a delighted noise and gently pulling at the necklace. She looked back to Johanna, teeth sharp but eyes akin to a puppy’s.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Very pretty.”

Johanna smiled and leaned back, resting on her elbows. She shrugged. “Looks good on you.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Soon, it will be,” Akleja said, but the next word out of her mouth wasn’t a word. It was rather a… hum, almost – a strange, yet enticing, melodic tone that had Johanna blinking for several moments.

“It’ll be what?” She asked.

“Ah,” Akleja cursed herself. “I forget you’re not naiad. It will be talviasti.”

When Johanna just continued staring, the naiad narrowed her eyes. “Do you not do talviasti?”

The pirate shrugged. “Uh, I guess not. What is it?”

“When water gets cold, we find warmth,” Akleja explained. “So before we leave we say goodbye to our home.”

Johanna kept silent, then, “you’re migrating?” before realising Akleja wouldn’t know what that would be. She shook her head, pushing against a stagnant feeling in her chest. “Leaving? You won’t be coming back.”

“We will!” Akleja cried quickly, and Johanna ignored how her shoulders immediately loosened. “Naiad tribes have few places we leave for. We trade depending on the year and the season.”

“Oh,” Johanna said. “Okay. How long will you be gone?”

“We stay until kevatasti. When water gets cold there,” she said. “Before leaving we say goodbye to our homes, and our goodbye lasts several days.”

“It’s like a festival?” Johanna asked. “Do you throw parties or something?” 

Akleja narrowed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to translate the words. “We do things, yes. Hunt, sing. It is fun,” she said, smiling.

Johanna laughed. “Sounds like it. What will you be doing?”

Akleja straightened, and Johanna quickly picked up the impression she was proud of her role. “I am artisan,” she said, “so I will still be painting on naiads. But for talviasti and kevatasti I do new symbols. It is a good job.”

Johanna grinned. “I bet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talviasti and kevatasti are made up holidays for the mermaids. They consist of two words - talvi, kevat, and asti. Talvi is Finnish for winter (according to Google Translate), kevat is Finnish for spring (according to Google Translate), and asti is the latter part of the word hyvästi which is Finnish for goodbye (according to Google Translate).
> 
> I chose spring instead of summer to translate as summer in Finnish was kesä, and kesasti or kesaasti didn't sound a good.
> 
> By the way, when Akleja says "I am an artisan... so I will still be painting on naiads," she means that in her tribe she is an artisan, meaning she paints the symbols on the naiads in her tribe - different ranks have different symbols, and her job is to paint them onto everyone. Idea is borrowed from the comic Home and I even have a guide for it I don't use. Also, the paint is made form bio-luminescent plants, if you want to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Helmi is the Finnish word for pearl. I'm super lazy and the Finnish language sounds nice, so...
> 
> I found the idea of mermaids using currency in a fic, and it used pearls, too, but I don't remember it. Will definitely link if I find it again!


End file.
